A digital broadcast receiving device (100) includes: a same broadcast station determination unit (109) that determines that a broadcast station broadcasting programs with the same broadcast times as the broadcast times of programs broadcast by a selected broadcast station in a predetermined interval in program schedules included in broadcast station information stored in a broadcast station information storage unit (108) is the same broadcast station as the selected broadcast station, generates same broadcast station information associating the selected broadcast station with the broadcast station determined to be the same broadcast station, and stores the same broadcast station information in the broadcast station information storage unit (108); and a station selection control unit (107) that, when reception deterioration is detected, controls the broadcast receiving unit (112) so as to switch the broadcast station selection over to a same broadcast station as determined by the same broadcast station determination unit (109) or to a broadcast station indicated by the same broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage unit (108).
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A digital broadcast receiving device comprising: a broadcast receiving unit for generating a digital signal from a received signal received at an antenna and separating, from the digital signal, video data and audio data of a program broadcast by a selected broadcast station; a reception deterioration detection unit for detecting a reception deterioration state in which a reception state of the received signal has deteriorated; a broadcast station information storage unit for storing broadcast station information including, for each broadcast station, a station selection parameter for selecting broadcast programs and a program schedule having a plurality of individual schedules each indicating a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time or a broadcast start time and a broadcast duration of an individual program; a same broadcast station determination unit for comparing the program start times and the program end times of the individual schedules of a broadcast station under test, the broadcast station under test being a broadcast station other than the selected broadcast station and the individual schedules of the selected broadcast station in the respective program schedules and, when the program start times and the program end times of a plurality of individual schedules of the broadcast station under test and a plurality of individual schedules of the selected broadcast station included in a predetermined time interval match, determining that the broadcast station under test is the same broadcast station as the selected broadcast station, generating same broadcast station information associating the selected broadcast station with the broadcast station determined to be the same broadcast station, and causing the broadcast station information storage unit to store the same broadcast station information; and a station selection control unit for, when the reception deterioration detection unit detects the reception deterioration state, controlling the broadcast receiving unit so as to switch the broadcast station selection over to a same broadcast station determined by the same broadcast station determination unit or to a broadcast station indicated by the same broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage unit.
2. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 wherein, in determining whether or not programs being broadcast by two broadcast stations have the same broadcast times, the same broadcast station determination unit excludes, from the predetermined interval, an interval in which one of the broadcast times is changed by daylight saving time and another one of the broadcast times is not changed.
3. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 wherein, in determining whether or not programs being broadcast by two broadcast stations have the same broadcast times, if at least one of the broadcast times includes a time zone difference, the same broadcast station determination unit corrects the broadcast times to eliminate the time zone difference.
4. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 wherein, in determining whether or not programs being broadcast by two broadcast stations have the same broadcast times, the same broadcast station determination unit regards the broadcast times of two programs as the same even when the broadcast times of the two programs differ, provided they differ by a value less than a predetermined first threshold or the amount by which they differ forms a fraction of the broadcast time less than a predetermined second threshold.
5. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 wherein, in determining whether or not two broadcast stations are the same broadcast station, the same broadcast station determination unit regards the two broadcast stations as being the same broadcast station when a value indicating a degree to which programs with differing broadcast times are included among the plurality of programs being broadcast by the two broadcast stations is lower than a predetermined value.
6. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 5 , wherein the value indicating the degree to which programs with differing broadcast times are included among the plurality of programs being broadcast by the two broadcast stations is: at least one value among a number of programs with differing broadcast times, a broadcast time duration of the programs with differing broadcast times, a difference between broadcast start times of the programs with differing broadcast times, a difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times, and a sum of the difference between broadcast start times and the difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times; a fraction of the total number of all the programs broadcast within the predetermined time interval formed by the number of programs with differing broadcast times; or a fraction of a total broadcast time of all the programs broadcast within the predetermined time interval formed by at least one value among the broadcast time duration of the programs with differing broadcast times, the difference between broadcast start times of the programs with differing broadcast times, the difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times, and the sum of the difference between broadcast start times and the difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times.
7. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 , wherein: the broadcast station information includes at least one of, for each program, a video count, an audio count, a subtitle count, a data broadcast count, a genre, billing information, and presence or absence of a viewing restriction; and the same broadcast station determination unit determines a broadcast station broadcasting a plurality of programs with the same broadcast times as the broadcast times of the plurality of programs broadcast by the selected broadcast station in the predetermined interval to be the same broadcast station as the selected broadcast station if the plurality of programs broadcast by the broadcast station each have at least one of the same video count, the same audio count, the same subtitle count, the same data broadcast count, the same genre, the same billing information, and the same presence or absence of the viewing restriction as the plurality of programs broadcast by the selected broadcast station.
8. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 , wherein the same broadcast station determination unit performs a same broadcast station determination when the reception deterioration state is detected, when a broadcast station not included in the broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage unit is newly received, when a station selection parameter or a broadcast schedule included in the broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage unit is updated, or when a predetermined interval has elapsed from a time at which the same station determination was last performed.
9. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 , wherein the same broadcast station determination unit generates or updates the broadcast station information when it has performed the same broadcast station determination or has performed the same broadcast station determination a predetermined number of times.
10. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 , wherein: the same broadcast station information indicates a plurality of broadcast stations determined to be the same broadcast station; and when deterioration of the reception state of the received signal is detected, the station selection control unit controls the broadcast receiving unit so as to switch the broadcast station selection over to a broadcast station in the plurality of broadcast stations indicated by the same broadcast station information sequentially in a priority order, starting from high priority.
11. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 , wherein when the same broadcast station determination unit cannot detect a broadcast station determinable to be the same broadcast station, the station selection control unit controls the broadcast receiving unit, searches all frequency bands in order, and detects a receivable broadcast station.
12. The digital broadcast receiving device of claim 1 , wherein the digital broadcast receiving device has a plurality of broadcast receiving units, and the station selection control unit: causes one broadcast receiving unit among the plurality of broadcast receiving units to separate the video data and the audio data broadcast by the selected broadcast station; and controls another broadcast receiving unit among the plurality of broadcast receiving units by causing the another broadcast receiving unit to search all frequency bands in order and separate program information including information related to broadcast programs from the digital signal, and updates the broadcast station information on a basis of the separated program information.
13. A station selection method comprising: a broadcast receiving step for generating a digital signal from a received signal received at an antenna and separating, from the digital signal, video data and audio data of a program broadcast by a selected broadcast station; a reception deterioration detection step for detecting a reception deterioration state in which a reception state of the received signal has deteriorated; a broadcast station information storage step for storing broadcast station information including, for each broadcast station, a station selection parameter for selecting broadcast programs and a program schedule having a plurality of individual schedules each indicating a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time or a broadcast start time and a broadcast duration of an individual program; a same broadcast station determination step for comparing the program start times and the program end times of the individual schedules of a broadcast station under test, the broadcast station under test being a broadcast station other than the selected broadcast station, and the individual schedules of the selected broadcast station in the respective program schedules and, when the program start times and the program end times of a plurality of individual schedules of the broadcast station under test and a plurality of individual schedules of the selected broadcast station included in a predetermined time interval match, determining that the broadcast station under test is the same broadcast station as the selected broadcast station, generating same broadcast station information associating the selected broadcast station with the broadcast station determined to be the same broadcast station, and causing the same broadcast station information to be stored; and a station selection control step for, when the reception deterioration state is detected in the reception deterioration detection step, controlling the broadcast receiving step so as to switch the broadcast station selection over to a same broadcast station determined in the same broadcast station determination step or to a broadcast station indicated by the same broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage step.
14. The station selection method of claim 13 wherein, in determining whether or not programs being broadcast by two broadcast stations have the same broadcast times, the same broadcast station determination step excludes, from the predetermined interval, an interval in which one of the broadcast times is changed by daylight saving time and another one of the broadcast times is not changed.
15. The station selection method of claim 13 wherein, in determining whether or not programs being broadcast by two broadcast stations have the same broadcast times, if at least one of the broadcast times includes a time zone difference, the same broadcast station determination step corrects the broadcast times to eliminate the time zone difference.
16. The station selection method of claim 13 wherein, in determining whether or not programs being broadcast by two broadcast stations have the same broadcast times, the same broadcast station determination step regards the broadcast times of two programs as the same even when the broadcast times of the two programs differ, provided they differ by a value less than a predetermined first threshold or the amount by which they differ forms a fraction of the broadcast time less than a predetermined second threshold.
17. The station selection method of claim 13 wherein, in determining whether or not two broadcast stations are the same broadcast station, the same broadcast station determination step regards the two broadcast stations as being the same broadcast station when a value indicating a degree to which programs with differing broadcast times are included among the plurality of programs being broadcast by the two broadcast stations is lower than a predetermined value.
18. The station selection method of claim 17 , wherein the value indicating the degree to which programs with differing broadcast times are included among the plurality of programs being broadcast by the two broadcast stations is: at least one value among a number of programs with differing broadcast times, a broadcast time duration of the programs with differing broadcast times, a difference between broadcast start times of the programs with differing broadcast times, a difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times, and a sum of the difference between broadcast start times and the difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times; a fraction of the total number of all the programs broadcast within the predetermined time interval formed by the number of programs with differing broadcast times; or a fraction of a total broadcast time of all the programs broadcast within the predetermined time interval formed by at least one value among the broadcast time duration of the programs with differing broadcast times, the difference between broadcast start times of the programs with differing broadcast times, the difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times, and the sum of the difference between broadcast start times and the difference between broadcast end times of the programs with differing broadcast times.
19. The station selection method of claim 13 , wherein: the broadcast station information includes at least one of, for each program, a video count, an audio count, a subtitle count, a data broadcast count, a genre, billing information, and presence or absence of a viewing restriction; and the same broadcast station determination step determines a broadcast station broadcasting a plurality of programs with the same broadcast times as the broadcast times of the plurality of programs broadcast by the selected broadcast station in the predetermined interval to be the same broadcast station as the selected broadcast station if the plurality of programs broadcast by the broadcast station each have at least one of the same video count, the same audio count, the same subtitle count, the same data broadcast count, the same genre, the same billing information, and the same presence or absence of the viewing restriction as the plurality of programs broadcast by the selected broadcast station.
20. The station selection method of claim 13 , wherein the same broadcast station determination step performs a same broadcast station determination when the reception deterioration state is detected, when a broadcast station not included in the broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage step is newly received, when a station selection parameter or a broadcast schedule included in the broadcast station information stored in the broadcast station information storage step is updated, or when a predetermined interval has elapsed from a time at which the same station determination was last performed.
21. The station selection method of claim 13 , wherein the same broadcast station determination step generates or updates the broadcast station information when it has performed the same broadcast station determination or has performed the same broadcast station determination a predetermined number of times.
22. The station selection method of claim 13 , wherein: the same broadcast station information indicates a plurality of broadcast stations determined to be the same broadcast station; and when deterioration of the reception state of the received signal is detected, the station selection control step controls the broadcast receiving step so as to switch the broadcast station selection over to a broadcast station in the plurality of broadcast stations indicated by the same broadcast station information sequentially in a priority order, starting from high priority.
23. The station selection method of claim 13 , wherein when the same broadcast station determination step cannot detect a broadcast station determinable to be the same broadcast station, the station selection control step controls the broadcast receiving step, searches all frequency bands in order, and detects a receivable broadcast station.
24. The station selection method of claim 13 , wherein the digital broadcast receiving method has a plurality of broadcast receiving steps, and the station selection control step: causes one broadcast receiving step among the plurality of broadcast receiving steps to separate the video data and the audio data broadcast by the selected broadcast station; and controls another broadcast receiving step among the plurality of broadcast receiving steps by causing the another broadcast receiving step to search all frequency bands in order and separate program information including information related to broadcast programs from the digital signal, and updates the broadcast station information on a basis of the separated program information.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
November 16, 2012
January 12, 2016
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